Floodwater, Cottonwood Trees

Spring melt-water made the river fat around the feet of these cottonwoods – the flickering surface spread wide and high and became milky with silt. Tiny whirlpools dared swimmers; the train of water rose nearly to the bottom of the bridge.

As I was setting up my tripod, a leg dislodged a steep section of freshly eroded soil, nearly sending me and my camera into the rushing current. It seemed like every car and building would soon be carried away to the ocean like paper boats. I like this photograph – it reminds me of the bright Spring sun that soon becomes hot, of the long days in each short Summer, and of the impossible volume of water carried into the hills each year by restless air.